One for Three [Elite Dragons 1] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting) (4 page)

“I don’t have any family.” She whispered her reply.

“What happened, baby?”

“My mom died in childbirth. My dad was killed in a work accident. I lived with my grandmother for the first five years of my life, but she passed away from cancer. She was quite well off, but she must have left her estate to another distant relative I wasn’t aware of.”

“So who looked after you? The state?” Coulter queried.

Brooke nodded and looked down at her hands. Her knuckles were white from gripping them so hard. Coulter covered her hands with one of his large ones.

“Relax, baby. I’m sorry if I upset you with my questions. Let’s get you some food,” he said and scooped her off the counter into his arms.

“Wait. Do you have a spare toothbrush?”

“Shit, sorry, Brooke, I didn’t think,” he replied and put her back on the vanity. He rummaged in a cupboard and came up with a brush still in its packaging and handed it to her. “Here you go.”

“Thank you,” Brooke replied and brushed her teeth vigorously. She sighed because she almost felt like a normal human being again.

She wrapped an arm around Coulter’s neck when he picked her up and carried her from the room. The house was big. He carried her down a long hallway with lots of doorways leading off it. When he was nearly at the end, he turned right and she saw they were in a large kitchen with a massive dining room attached. There were four tables and lots of chairs. Each table was occupied with men and the three women who had shared the basement with her. Brooke felt the last of her anxiety slip away upon seeing the others. They had all made it out, and now they were happily chatting with the men. Two elderly women were working to prepare meals in the large gourmet kitchen.

Coulter carried her to the table where Trace and Corbin sat talking and drinking coffee. He kept her on his lap when he sat down.

One of the women in the kitchen rushed over with two mugs of coffee and placed them on the table.

“Hello, dear, you must be Brooke. I’m Martha, one of the cooks here and also mother to these three,” she said, indicating Coulter, Trace, and Corbin.

“I’m pleased to meet you, Martha,” Brooke replied quietly.

“You’re just a little bit of a thing and I’ll bet you’re hungry. Trace and Corbin have ordered an omelet for you. Is that okay?” Martha asked.

“It sounds divine,” Brooke answered.

“I have it warming. I’ll be back in two shakes of a tail feather.”

Brooke smiled at Martha as she bustled back to the kitchen. She looked up at Coulter. “Could I please sit in my own chair?”

“You can, but as soon as you look like you’re tiring you’re going back to bed,” he replied.

Brooke went to stand up, but he wouldn’t let her. He lifted her off his lap and gently put her on the seat next to him. She sighed and reached for a mug of coffee. She inhaled the scent of the dark brew and sighed again. It had been so long since she’d had the luxury of coffee.

“Thank you, Martha,” Brooke stated as the woman placed a plate in front of her. She didn’t speak until she had eaten her fill, which took awhile since she hadn’t had a proper meal in over a week. Now that her hunger was satisfied she was beginning to get tired again.

“Brooke, are you okay? We were so worried about you. If we had known you were sick we would have tried to help. We just thought you didn’t want us near you,” Janie explained.

“No. I’m sorry if you thought that. I was so cold and tired. I didn’t have the energy to move,” Brooke replied as she turned to look at Janie, but all the other handsome men in the room stole her attention. They each had one of the women sitting at separate tables. She wondered why they weren’t all sitting together and turned back to ask the three brothers with her.

The words hitched in her throat, and she closed her mouth with an audible snap. She caught them all looking at her as if they wanted to devour her. Her cheeks flushed with heat, and she lowered her eyes.

“Brooke, let me introduce you to our team,” Trace stated, and to Brooke’s surprise, he picked her up from her chair into his arms and carried her over to the other tables. She clutched at his arm and closed her eyes for a moment and inhaled his scent. He smelled so masculine and clean. She could have spent forever in the arms of Coulter, Trace, and, she predicted, Corbin as well.

Honestly, the rapid development of her feelings for the Thornell brothers frightened her. Since waking up beside Coulter, she had felt a peace that she had never experienced before. Part of her wondered if this were some sort of residual Stockholm Syndrome from her kidnapping, but the reason for her connection to them didn’t matter.

Her equal attraction to both Coulter and Trace only compounded the mixture of fear and excitement roiling in her stomach. To make matters worse, the same feeling gripped at her insides when she was around Corbin. How could she be so attracted to two men? And brothers no less?

Something about these men drew her to them and turned her on big-time. She opened her eyes again when Trace began to speak again.

Brooke sighed with weariness after the introductions were made, when Trace carried her back to the table with her sitting on his thighs. She wanted to get up and either sit in her own chair or walk away, but she was too tired. She covered her mouth and yawned, and her eyes closed and refused to open again.

“Take her back to bed, Trace. Brooke needs to rest,” Coulter commanded. She didn’t protest. Her exhaustion caught up with her, and she allowed herself to drift to sleep, safe in the comfort of Trace’s arms.

“You are so sexy, Brooke,” he muttered as he stared at her feminine features and felt his heart clench.

Trace placed the sleeping woman on to the bed. He pulled the covers up over her and just sat there next to her, staring. She was so soft and feminine. She was the most beautiful, sexiest woman he had ever laid eyes on. She was so light. She couldn’t have weighed much more than a hundred pounds or been much more than five feet. Her eyes, though closed now, drew him in every time they connected with his. They were a combination of green and blue with brown flecks and seemed to change with her mood—greener when she was happy and a swirling mixture of green and blue when she was nervous or upset. He wondered what they would look like in the throes of passion.

He reached over and pushed her black hair back off her face. Her skin was so soft and warm. He couldn’t resist touching it and ran a finger down her smooth cheek. The attraction he had felt for her when he and his brothers nursed her to health had grown into something stronger from the moment he had been introduced. His cock and balls were one big ache, and even though he’d jacked off the previous night, it hadn’t helped much. They had put her in the master bedroom, and he and his brothers had slept in the guest room next door. Not that she was aware of their presence, but he, Coulter, and Corbin had wanted to be with her in case she took a turn for the worse. But they didn’t think she would feel comfortable waking up in the presence of strangers. So they had taken to watching her in shifts, sharing the responsibility of looking after the ill woman in addition to their other responsibilities. Corbin was working on their two prisoners, and Coulter still had duties to the team and the ongoing mission, but they were all a little preoccupied. They worried she would end up with a cold or, God forbid, pneumonia after being so ill. Her body was so fragile after living off a small bread roll and a cup of water a day for over a week.

Trace learned through another survivor that Brooke had been the first of the group abducted. While Brooke ate, Coulter had pulled him and Corbin aside and explained quietly that she didn’t have any family. Trace accepted Coulter’s caution not to bring it up because he didn’t want to upset Brooke, but he still wondered why she hadn’t been reported missing. Surely her boss or a work colleague had noticed she was absent.

“How is she?” Corbin asked quietly as he entered the room.

“She’s sleeping,” he replied. “She is so fucking sexy. I can feel her loneliness even while she’s sleeping. I want to hold her so bad. I wonder if she’d want to stay with us. She doesn’t have any family.”

“I don’t know, Trace. She knows we want her. She caught us all staring at her with lust. But to me, it’s more than just physical. She pulls at my heart. She’s such a little thing, and I just want hold her forever and protect her,” Corbin whispered.

“Yeah, me, too,” Trace declared.

“Hey, you two, I need you to find out what you can on Brooke. I want to know where she lives, who she works for, and what she eats for breakfast every morning,” Coulter commanded from the doorway.

“Why?” Corbin asked what Trace had been thinking.

“I want to know why no one listed her as missing. She could have been sold, dead, or both, and no one would have ever known.”

“So what are you going to do when you find out the information you want?” Corbin inquired.

“I might just have to rough up a few people,” Coulter replied.

“Shh, keep it down, Coult,” Trace said quietly as he walked toward the door. “You don’t want to wake her. Brooke needs to rest.”

Trace made his way back to the kitchen, followed by his brothers. They all moved silently, a skill acquired in their stealth training, but Trace felt the floor tremble beneath him from their steps. He took the mug of coffee his mom handed him and kissed her on the cheek.

“Thanks, Mom.”

“You three like that girl, don’t you?” his mother asked.

“Yeah, we do, Mom,” Trace answered.

“You go easy on her and don’t push too hard. She’s an innocent,” Martha stated.

“We won’t hurt her, Mom.”

“I know that, but she doesn’t. Just give her time to get to know you. Where the hell is her family? All the other ladies have had calls or contacted their kin. Why hasn’t she?” Martha asked sorrowfully.

“Brooke doesn’t have any family, Mom. They’re all deceased,” Coulter replied.

“Oh, that poor little lamb. Well, you just leave her to me. I’ll make sure she’s fed and loved.”

“You’re the best, Mom,” Trace stated. He picked his mother up and hugged her.

“Put me down, Trace. You’re not too old to go over my knee, you know,” Martha said and smirked at him. He couldn’t help but laugh. The image of his small, plump mother trying to put him over her knee was just too humorous.

“I’m more than twice your size,” he replied.

“So?” his mother replied. “Go and do whatever it is you do and let me clean up the dining room. The others have already left.”

“So I see. Did they take the women with them, or have they left them here for us to deal with?” asked Trace.

“The boys took the women back to their own cabins. They have opened their homes up to the women and have given me their word of honor they will be looked after. Not that I ever doubted they would. Those poor girls have been through hell. They need to rest so they can recover from their ordeal.”

“They’ll be fine, Mom,” Coulter reassured her.

“Of course they will. Why wouldn’t they? They have wonderful, handsome, strong men to look after them. Now, get out of here,” Martha said with a grin.

Trace carried his mug of coffee and went into their office. He sat down at his laptop and ran a check on Brooke. He found the real estate office in Bismarck where she had been employed and her address. He brought up a satellite image and cursed when he saw the dilapidated condition of her apartment building. There was no security, and Brooke’s apartment was virtually only an efficiency. She would never live there again if he could help it. He printed out the details and had just handed them over to Coulter when a bloodcurdling scream rent the air.

Trace was on his feet and running before his brain even kicked into gear. He knew Coulter was on his heels. He slammed into the bedroom and was at Brooke’s side in seconds. He glanced around the room as he entered, every finely tuned sense scanning for danger. His muscles tightened as he prepared to spring at some unknown attacker. But Brooke was alone and still asleep.

He made himself relax and sat down next to her, scanning her emotions. Fear swept over him, but he knew it wasn’t his. She was whimpering and tears smeared her cheeks. She was having a nightmare.

He picked her up into his arms and lap and rocked her. She felt so right in his arms that he never wanted to let go. He slipped his thigh over her legs when she tried to kick so she wouldn’t hurt herself and pinned her flailing arms to her sides. She gasped for air, and he began to talk to her quietly.

“You’re okay, darlin’. You’re safe. Wake up, Brooke. Come on, sweetness, open your eyes.” Trace spoke quietly. He knew she was conscious when she sagged in his arms, and then she turned her head into his shoulder and sobbed. He didn’t try to stop her. He just held her and continued to rock. Finally, her tears stopped and she calmed down.

“I’m sorry,” Brooke stated in a whisper.

“Hush, darlin’. You have nothin’ to be sorry for,” Trace told her. “Do you want to come out to the living room? I could put a movie on for you if you want.”

“Please. I’m sorry to be such a nuisance.”

“You’re not a nuisance, baby,” Coulter stated. “Bring her out and I’ll set the TV up.”

He followed Coult out of the bedroom with his precious bundle. Instead of placing her on the sofa and heading back to work, Trace sat down with her on his lap and wrapped her up in his arms. She surprised him by snuggling up to him. God, he hoped she would stay if they asked. The army higher-ups wouldn’t care. Not for nothing had he and his teammates endured years of experiments and trainings. They had earned their superiors’ trust, which was why the farm was more like a house than a base. But it wouldn’t be a home until Brooke was here to stay.